Fantastic Four #19: The Humanity Of Benjamin J. Grimm 8

Fantastic Four #19, page 13, panels 3-5

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

I’m a big fan of this transformation from the Thing to Ben. Unlike several in the past, this is not really random, and it serves the plot. Without this happening, the Four would likely still be slaves of Rama-Tut.

However, it is a bit surprising that the inciting element for the transformation would be a really hot sun. If this was all that was needed, then Reed would be able to put Ben on the next ICBM to modern-day Egypt and let him enjoy being himself. A better way of looking at this would be that it was a combination of Rama-Tut’s will-sapping ray and the hot sun, causing a unique reaction within The Thing’s body. With all those caption boxes, Stan surely could have squeezed in a better explanation than ‘it got really hot’…